Stoke City – Valencia 16.2.12

Stoke City – Valencia 16.2.12

Stoke City is since 5 rounds without a win within the English Premier League. The Europe League is the right moment for them to get some self-confidence with a win. So far, they’ve done a very good job, especially in front of their own fans they are still unbeaten in Europe.

Although they posses great offensive power in there like as Jones, Peter Crouch and Cameron Jerome, they don’t score a lot, which is the main reason why they’re just on 13th position in the PL. Valencia entered the Europe League as 3rd placed from their Champions League group behind Chelsea and Bayer Leverkusen.

Like Stoke, Valencia is a very though to beat home team, but away from home the magic ends. This is the main reason why they’ve been eliminated from the CL. Especially the match against Leverkusen was the best example. In the first half they failed to take a comfortable lead, although they got the 1-0 lead. In the 2nd half of the game only Leverkusen existed in that match and won 2-1. The away weakness of Valencia is also visible in La Liga, where they are winless since 6 matches (3 draws, 3 defeats). Valencia is also out of the Spanish Cup competition. Therefore, only the Europe League and the 3rd position within Spain remains as task for this season.

The Spaniards are the much better technicians on the field. Stoke will try to push themselves to a victory and Valencia will try to get a win with counter-attacks. I rate the Spanish team as the
much better team, it’s about time that they also demonstrate their supremacy. Take Valencia not to
lose, respectively to be nearer to a win today. Good luck!